Moonspear Braveheart

She felt many things at present, though chief among them—somehow even worse than the shock and sadness—was the absolute disorientation of being abruptly thrown out of the only home she had ever known. After howling a final goodbye to all within earshot, she loped north and took shelter in Bramblepoint. She lingered near the woods' edge, staring at her former home, trying to catch her breath and gather her bearings. Every time she thought the words, I'm no longer a member of Redhawk Caldera, the knowledge stabbed through her chest like a knife.

Wildfire supposed there was only one place to go at this point. She was not suited to the life of a loner, even for one day, so she finally turned away from the distant smokestack and began to gallop northwest through the forest. She emerged and saw Moonspear jutting into the sky ahead of her. It was a literal beacon of hope on what was perhaps the most discombobulated day of her life. Trying to focus on the future rather than the past she was leaving behind, she slowly trotted toward her (hopefully) new home.

It was tempting to call for Floki and throw herself into her "boyfriend's" arms, telling him all about her awful day and burying her head in his shoulder. But Wildfire stiffened that upper lip of hers as she approached the borderlands. Maybe she wouldn't even tell Floki or Charon or anyone about the circumstances leading to her departure, unless they asked. She didn't see why they would, though. As far as they would know, she had simply made her choice (and not had it made for her).

And she would own that decision now. The young she-wolf drew in an admittedly shaky breath and fought the sudden and powerful urge to weep. Once the moment passed and she felt steady again, she drew in another breath, then tipped her smudged snout toward the dismal gray sky and howled for Charon, Floki or Ame. Wildfire then pursed her lips and slumped onto her haunches. She should have felt excited and optimistic about this new adventure but as she waited, a shroud of melancholy descended upon her.

*jumps on*

The newly-titled outrider was itching to stretch his legs now that he officially held the trade. Of course, the first place he wanted to venture to was Redhawk Caldera so that he could tell Wildfire about his accomplishment. But she beat him to the punch -- before he could even step foot outside of Moonspear, he heard her howl and his ears pricked curiously. It wasn't just his presence that she requested, but Charon's and Amekaze's as well, which caused his heart to skip a beat. Was she ready to join their ranks?

Floki all but flew to meet her, sandy paws barely skimming the ground as he ran. He tripped and stumbled more than a few times -- after all, it had only been a week that he had called Moonspear home -- but made it to his destination unscathed. When his gaze fell on Wildfire, he immediately noticed the troubled hunch of her shoulders but couldn't stop his tail from waving at the sight of her anyway.

"Wildfire! Hey," he said, striding forward to touch his nose gently to her cheek. He then took a step back and asked, "What's up?"

She thought her resolve might crumble the instant she saw him, that she would be unable to resist the urge to cry on Floki's shoulder. But when her young companion appeared, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Wildfire experienced an altogether different feeling. Her heart had only just sunken into her feet again but as he came running toward her, it not only lifted but soared. She stood, amber eyes shimmering slightly, and managed a genuine smile for him. There was also relief in her eyes as he closed the space between them and touched his nose to her cheek. His behavior was so different from her brother's, open and warm and welcoming. It was exactly what she needed.

"What's up?" he wanted to know and Wildfire made sure to take a deep breath before answering, "I'm here to stay, if Charon and Ame will have me." Her voice quavered a bit but she reminded herself that her friends would probably be expecting some emotions from her; she had just left her birth pack, after all, no matter the circumstances. "And if you'll have me too," she added, taking a step closer and pressing the whole side of her face against Floki's soft neck.

She seemed a little off, though Floki wasn't perceptive enough to pick up on the subtle clues that Wildfire tried to hide. There was nothing false about her smile, and she seemed to be happy to see him. She wasted no time in answering his question, and he found himself gaping at her in disbelief when she replied that she wanted to join Moonspear. It was exactly what he had hoped, but he hadn't really believed that it would happen.

"You are? That's great!" he yipped, dancing in place in front of her. He shifted his weight between his four paws, hardly able to contain his excitement. She leaned into him, and he pressed right back, even going so far as to wrap his forelegs around her neck in a hug. When he released her, he took a step back and looked around eagerly. "I hope Charon gets here quick! He's going to be thrilled, too," he said, blue eyes locking with Wildfire's gold. He was so overwhelmed with joy that he didn't even stop to think about how difficult it must have been to leave her family behind at Redhawk Caldera.

His excitement was like a bright light, burning away at her sadness, or at least pushing the shadows to the furthest corners of her heart and mind. He seemed genuinely thrilled at the news and her black tail began to sweep side to side. It wagged all the harder when Floki reared onto his hind legs, wrapping his forelegs around her neck in a wolfish hug. She almost gave in to the urge to bury her face in his neck, yet he released her and drew back before she could. That was just as well; she probably would have wound up sobbing into his silky, silvery fur.

"You think so?" she asked rhetorically, smiling bashfully. "You guys still have room for me, right? Hey, once I'm in, can you show me where you sleep and stuff?" She paused, her breath hitching in her throat before she tentatively asked, "Do you think maybe I could spend the night with you? I've never slept alone," she admitted a bit feebly, feeling a huge lump forming in her throat. It was only a partial truth—she'd slept alone plenty of times while on the road—but every other night, she'd curled up by her family's sides at the rendezvous site.

Charon had been finishing up a quick patrol when he heard Dhole's call, and he just knew she was here to stay. He was convinced that Dhole had a lil' crush on him, even though he didn't think much of her romantically. But hey, she had a pretty face, and though love wasn't something that had interested Charon so far, he could imagine that she was totally hot for him. The young Alpha sped up to a quick trot and when he saw Dhole come into view, Flóki was already with her.

Upon his approach Charon fondly nuzzled Dhole's cheek. By the elated look on Flóki's face he already knew that his gut feeling was right: she was here to stay. Glad that his friend was joining, Charon smiled teasingly as he said: "Sooo, you want to join this pack, do you? Are you sure you can contribute enough? What sort of strengths do you bring to this pack?"

As Floki's excitement settled, he became more acutely aware of Wildfire's expressions and reactions to his words. She seemed relieved, but there was also a touch of anxiety in her tone as she confirmed that there was still space in the pack for her and asked if she could spend the night with him. The first question resulted in an exaggerated bobbing of his head; of course there was room for her in the ranks! In reality, the Xi wasn't really sure, but he couldn't imagine Charon ever turning Wildfire away. Her second query caused heat to rise into his cheeks as he continued to nod.

"Yeah --" he started to reply, and would have elaborated further, but was interrupted by Charon's arrival. He took a step back, allowing the Alpha room to greet his friend and soon-to-be subordinate, then grinned and looked expectantly back at Wildfire as Charon teased her. His tail slowed its pace, though it kept swinging softly behind him.

Floki didn't get out much more than an exuberant yeah before the speckled Alpha male arrived. Wildfire bowed her head, letting her silky black tail drop. For an instant, his words caused her to stiffen. What if there wasn't room for her? What if Charon had decided to tighten up the joining requirements? It slowly dawned on her that he was only teasing, though, and she let out a somewhat hollow laugh to indicate that she had gotten the joke.

Although he was only kidding, Wildfire tried to swallow the lump in her throat and steady her voice as she replied, "Pretty sure. I'll be a proper adult in less than a month too." She tried not to think about the fact that she wouldn't come of age alongside Nightjar and Raven. "Outrider, Warrior and Naturalist reporting for duty," she quipped, managing a bit of a threadbare smile for her new leader. He already knew these things about her, though Wildfire was careful to sort them in the order of her preference and ability.

She had thought herself a shoe-in but everything had changed today. Her confidence was shaken and she felt a tremor of anxiety that prompted Wildfire to ask, "So, have I made the cut? Am I a Moonspearian now?" It sounded like a breed of extraterrestrial space explorer or something and some of the tension left her body as Wildfire genuinely chuckled at herself.

Charon didn't even realise that Dhole was nervous and that his joke only worsened those feelings. He was even a little disappointed that she didn't go along in the joke much by making up ridiculously not-helping feats about herself, such as that her toes smelled like throw-up (not that they did! but that would've been part of the joke) or that she talked about your mom in her sleep. Charon remembered talking to Peregrine; he had said that Dhole was a motivated youngster and that she would contribute when Charon said that he saw that as one of her fortes. It seemed that they had to work on her funny bone, though.

Dhole relaxed a little bit as she asked if she was a 'Moonspearian' now, and with a grin Charon said: "Yup, welcome aboard! The destruction of wolfkind as we know it is right on schedule, fellow Moonspearian." There was never any doubt in his mind that Dhole was welcome in his ranks, anyway. "I guess you already explored lots of Moonspear since you love our lil' neighbour peak so much, but do you want The Grand Tour?" Charon glanced at Flóki and then back at Dhole, figuring that his little bro would join them as well since Dhole and he were such good friends.

Despite Charon's relaxed and playful attitude, Wildfire still seemed to be anxious. The longer he observed, the more Floki picked up on it. He wasn't used to seeing her this way; she appeared to be out of her element. He didn't understand that leaving her family behind had been a huge undertaking. He was just excited to have her there -- he and Charon and the rest of the Moonspear wolves would be her new family.

Wildfire asked if she had made the cut, and Floki shifted his gaze to Charon. As he expected, the freckled Alpha responded positively, continuing with his teasing. Floki reached out to bump Wildfire's shoulder with his snout as he said, "Congratulations!" If she wanted to take a quick look around, he would be happy to accompany his brother and friend.

Charon seemed to pick up on the joke too, running with it. When he formally welcomed her, Wildfire felt warmth pooling in her belly. She was happy to be here, even if the circumstances leading up to this moment had not been ideal. There was so much to see and do. Hopefully establishing herself here would preoccupy her and she wouldn't have time to dwell on everything and everyone she dearly missed.

With that in mind, Wildfire immediately seized the opportunity. "I haven't actually explored it much," she said, "so I'd love a tour. You're coming too, right?" she added, twitching her snout sideways to smile at Floki. She stretched her neck a little to lick his nose. "You can show me where we'll be sleeping tonight," she murmured, latching onto that thought. It wouldn't the same as her family but it would be wonderful to have a soft, warm, familiar body close by tonight.

Like Flóki, Charon did not really consider Dhole's feelings; he didn't think about the fact she had left everything behind that she knew of. As a matter of fact, he linked it to his own journey to Moonspear and all that it brought him, not realising how very different their situations were. "A tour it is," said Charon. Dhole asked Flóki along on the tour for some reason (he was already here, after all, so Charon didn't really get why specifically asked if he was coming; of course he was coming!). It was nice to see that Flóki finally had a friend somewhat his age to play with, after losing his siblings.

Starting up the tour, Charon didn't hear what Dhole said about her and Flóki's sleeping place. He followed a path that wound through the forest at Moonspear's base while he said: "Well, this is the forest. You've probably seen most of this already, so nothing much special there." As a matter of fact, it was entirely possible she had seen more of it than Charon himself so far. He still had plenty of bits of Moonspear to explore himself.

"Of course," Floki replied when prompted; now that Wildfire was officially his packmate, he was eager to help show her the sights. He grinned as her tongue grazed gently against the tip of his nose, then nodded his head emphatically. He hadn't chosen a permanent sleeping arrangement just yet; instead, he had rested in different locations around the mountain. The thought of laying under the stars with Wildfire made his heart twist excitedly as they fell into step behind Charon.

The Alpha led them into the forest, moving among the tree trunks with confidence. Rather than looking around at the landscape, Floki's eyes were fixed on Wildfire, watching for her reaction. He hoped that she would love Moonspear as much as he did.

When Wildfire followed Charon and Floki across the borders, she felt a queer sensation, like an out-of-body experience. It persisted until the Alpha spoke, mentioning the forest. Wildfire blinked her amber eyes almost owlishly, peering around at the surrounding trees. Although it did look like every other forest she had ever explored, it was special: it was her new home. Her pulse quickened when she realized how much fun it would be getting to familiarize herself with the landscape here. The young Outrider wouldn't even have to leave the territory in order to find adventure, at least not right away.

The time would come when all of this was old hat, of course. Then she and Floki could go exploring together, she reminded herself. She glanced at him, waiting until she caught his eye and then flashing him an almost secretive smile. Wildfire then pointed her smudged muzzle at her new Alpha and said, "It's all great so far. Where to next?" She didn't even have to force the excited note in her voice; it was authentic, as was the slow wave of her black tail as she followed in her pack mates' wake. For the moment, at least, Redhawk Caldera had faded into the background.

Flóki came along, of course, and followed Charon and Dhole as they went on to exploer the forest. 'Great' was kind of a bland, general word, but judging from the tone in her voice, Dhole was really glad to be here. Just before they came out of the forested area, Charon gestured to his right as he said: "There's a creek trickling through the forest over there, if you ever get thirsty." Of which the odds seemed high enough of it happening.

"Anyway, this is close to where we met you when we were exploring. Remember?" They came out of the forest and Charon looked up. If he remembered correctly he was looking at the ledge he'd seen Dhole approach from and fall on her face over. "Is your paw all better, by the way?" He hadn't thought to ask it before, having forgotten about it (and at least it didn't look like a giant pus-filled abcess, so it was probably fine) until he looked at the ledge and thought back to when she'd got it hurt.

Floki figuratively settled into the background as they meandered, happy to be just a shadow accompanying Charon and Wildfire. The young Alpha was proud to show off his territory; and although Floki could have done an equally adequate job, he didn't want to step on his brother's toes. Wildfire didn't have a lot to say, but it was almost as though Floki could physically see her spirits lifting. There was a twinkle in her eye and a spring in her step that hadn't been there initially.

Charon led them out of the forest and to the base of the mountain, gesturing up at a ledge that sparked a memory in Floki's mind. He thought of the first time he had met Wildfire and smiled. He was a little distracted as Charon asked about Wildfire's ankle, but managed to emerge from his little dreamworld and looked at her leg. "You'll have to practice your climbing so you don't get hurt again," he said with a wave of his tail; before long, they would all be experts at scaling the mountain, as sure-footed as goats.

Charon certainly didn't intend it but the instant he reminded her of that day, Wildfire felt a lump rise in her throat. Aunt Flea! she thought with dismay, realizing she would not be able to just swing by the Beta pair's den for a quick visit anymore. The realization stung and ached like a physical wound, causing her breath to catch. She stopped in her tracks, pressing her suddenly trembling lips together and forcing herself to nod at the Alpha's question. She definitely remembered. She bobbed her head again when he asked about her paw.

Floki's voice reached out to her like a hand through a dark doorway. She grasped onto it and tried to heave herself back into the light. "I lived on a mountain," Wildfire replied with a wobbly smile, "and I got all the practice I could ever want. I'm still a disaster waiting to happen." Her quip fell flat, so she made sure to strengthen her weak smile and offer her friend a nudge to show she appreciated the sentiment, all jokes aside. Hopefully she would acquire more grace here.

"Onward and upward?" she suggested lightly in the next moment, honestly trying to stave off tears because her godmother's face just wouldn't leave her head, especially not while she was busily retracing her steps from her search for Finley. It still made her sad, recollecting just how hard they'd searched for her only to find out later she'd been right under their noses all along. But Wildfire pushed that thought aside and wondered, "Have you two climbed to the very top yet?"

Charon didn't even notice that Dhole was upset and just kept going on after she confirmed that it was the very place they had come upon her when she'd hurt her ankle. Her aunt had been found, and so Charon saw no reason for Dhole to be sad about that. Even her ankle'd been fixed in time. Flóki suggested she should practise climbing and Dhole said that she was just clumsy, despite her experience living on a mountain. Charon grinned and then continued on the journey, following a trail that lead up the side of the mountain.

Dhole asked if he had ever climbed to the top, and Charon shook his head. "Not yet I haven't. I wonder if you can touch the stars when you're up there. It's so tall!" He looked up at the mountain's top, though it was hard to see from where they stood: from a distance you could see how the spear seemed to pierce right through the sky all the way to the stars and moon, but going up the side of the mountain you didn't see the tip at all.

Wildfire reminded them that Redhawk Caldera was a mountain, a fact that Floki had overlooked in his excitement. He laughed and shrugged his shoulders, sidestepping so that he could bump his hip playfully against Wildfire's. Her moment of sadness hadn't gone unnoticed, but he didn't want to call attention to it.

"We should do that together," he replied to her question about reaching the top of Moonspear. He didn't specifically mean that they should attempt it at that very moment, but perhaps sometime in the near future -- they had all the time in the world, now that Wildfire was an official member of the pack.

Charon hadn't climbed to the pinnacle yet, though his remark reminded Wildfire of their encounter near Granite Gate. "Maybe you could go up there and borrow Raven's arrow to defeat Calamity," she murmured. Thinking about her sister was even more painful than thoughts of her aunt. She opened her mouth to say something about how she and Charon should do that again—weave stories about the stars—sometime when Floki's comment distracted her.

Taking him to mean the two of them, Wildfire's amber eyes glowed as she looked at him. "I'd like that," she replied softly, getting lost in his pretty eyes and charming features for a moment before remembering what they were supposed to be doing: touring. She reluctantly tore her gaze away and looked to Charon, anticipating their next stop.

"Hey, yeah," Charon said when Dhole reminded him of the time they had gone starwatching over at Granite Gate. Flóki suggested that they could all go together to check out Moonspear's top sometime. Charon considered going right now, since he liked to get things done rather than talk about them all day, but he decided against it in the end. The pack was yet fresh and he had lots to do for now; once they were settled, their claim known all along the lands and no more risks of issues, Charon could relax and that would be when he'd take his brother and friend to the top of the mountain. Waiting sucked, but it was for the best in this instance. "Yeah, great idea, we should do that sometime!" he said enthusiastically while they continued along one of Charon's favourite trails on the mountainside, which lead up to one of the small ledges along the side of the mountain that held a beautiful view.

He turned a corner and looked around briefly to make sure Dhole and Flóki were still following before he reached the ledge that overlooked some of the valley. It wasn't one of the higher-up ones and he couldn't quite see the ocean from here, but it had a good view on the side of Ouroboros Spine and showed some of the valleys to their east. "Here we go — there's even better views further up, but this one's pretty neat to start with!" He made space for Dhole and Flóki to join him, even though Flóki'd already seen this place. "It's so cool that you can look down on the mountain from many places here. Oh, hey, we also have lots of caves! Some of them bounce back your voice when you shout into them!" He turned to Flóki as he added: "Just like some of the caves in the cliffs back at the Bay."

Floki had meant that the three of them should explore the peak together, but he didn't mind that Wildfire misunderstood him. In fact, he got lost in her gaze momentarily as she turned to look at him. His heart fluttered and he tripped over his own feet, though he recovered quickly and managed not to fall. He cast a furtive glance towards Charon to see if his brother had noticed, but the older boy was too involved in conducting the tour.

They continued on their way, and soon reached a low-hanging ledge that offered a pretty impressive view of the wilds. Floki stepped right to the edge, his tail waving behind him as he gazed out over the landscape. He then looked back over his shoulder, up at the rocky slopes that rose above them. There was so much more to explore, from the upper reaches of the mountain to the echo-y caves that Charon mentioned.

"I love it already," he proclaimed, feeling powerful from where he stood. He didn't even miss Stavanger Bay.

The next stop turned out to be a ledge with an unbeatable view of the wilderness below. She hailed from a mountain, though not one as tall as this one, so Wildfire pushed forward to crane her neck and really check out the sights. It was all rather breathtaking. She sat and stared for a long moment, drinking in every detail and momentarily forgetting about her company, even Floki. It wasn't until Charon mentioned caves that Wildfire's attention snapped back to the two wolves alongside her.

"Count me out of any spelunking," she said, suppressing a shudder. "I got lost in some caves during the storm that did that," Wildfire explained, motioning toward the partially destroyed Ouroboros Spine. "It was the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me—and my half-sister tried to kill me once," she said for perspective. Of course, part of the reason why that memory didn't bother her nearly as much was because she had been so young she hardly remembered it at all. But the caves she remembered vividly.

It was nice that there were others in the pack that could appreciate aesthetics like Charon did. He loved looking down at the valleys below. It was breathtaking, beautiful, and it also made him feel like because he owned this mountain, he owned all of the world. When he'd first moved Charon had wished that the ocean was nearer, but now he didn't really miss it at all, because this mountain had so many other plus points.

Dhole admitted to being afraid of caves, which Charon thought was pretty nonsensical. Fears were for getting over. He lifted his eyebrow when she mentioned her half-sister tried to kill her once and looked back at Flóki, but Charon decided against digging into that subject. Maybe Flóki would. "No worries, I'll bet Flóki and me can get you over that. Fears are for getting over, after all." He said the latter sentence as though it was some sage saying that everyone in the world knew about.

Floki was surprised by Wildfire's off-handed comment -- both that she was afraid of tunnels and that her half-sister had tried to kill her. His eyes widened and he glanced at Charon, but his brother didn't ask for clarification, so neither did he. Perhaps he would hear those stories some other time. He was equally startled by the sudden defensive feeling that rose within him at the thought of someone trying to hurt her, but he did his best to ignore it.

"Fears are for getting over," Charon proclaimed, and Floki nodded his head with a smile. As if he didn't already idolize Charon enough, the older male had just given him a new motto to live by. "Yeah, Charon's right," he said, and then quickly added, "I'm sorry about what happened to you, though." He didn't want to give Wildfire the wrong impression and make her think that they didn't care about what she had said; he likely didn't have to worry too much about that, though, as his expressive gaze revealed his concern.